SAN DIEGO – Far from the teeter-totter of Tuesday night, the San Diego Padres rode a three-run fourth inning and the strong combined effort of six pitchers in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday afternoon at Petco Park.
Jackson Merrill, Luis Rengifo and Gavin Sheets all tallied RBI in the decisive frame for the Padres (55-53), who extended their winning streak to a season-best-tying five games and improved their record to 8-1 against Colorado (42-67) for the season.
"It's just how baseball goes, eventually if you stick with it, keep a good attitude, continue to work hard, show up to the ballpark every day ready to go, eventually you're going to figure out a way to get on a good streak, and the schedule's going to be favorable for you and you're just going to go for it," manager Craig Stammen said. "Bats will get hot, defense will keep playing good, pitching will kind of come together at the same time and that's what we've seen over the last five days."
The ‘pick and mix’ pitching strategy was more like ‘pick your poison’ for the Rockies, highlighted by Jeremiah Estrada making his first appearance since June 2. Pitching the eighth, Estrada recovered from a lead-off walk by fanning the next three Rockies for his second three-K inning of the season.
"A little worried after he walked the first guy, but very happy after he struck out the next three out, so a good outing from him to get back in the swing of things and we saw that fastball playing the way the way it should there at the end," Stammen said.
Kyle Hart opened for the second time in three appearances, largely avoiding danger outside of one two-out RISP situation in the first. He finished with 2 2/3 innings pitched, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out three before giving way to Griffin Canning, who would earn his second win. Mason Miller would later close it out for his 28th save.
After a fast-moving first third of the game, the Padres loaded the bases to start the fourth on a Jake Cronenworth single, Manny Machado legging out an infield hit and Ty France getting hit by a pitch.
The next three batters converted, as Merrill poked an outside changeup though the left side against the shift for an RBI single, then Rengifo bounced a fielder’s choice to first to knock another run in. Sheets got just underneath an elevated fastball for a sacrifice fly, giving the Padres a 3-0 lead.
"I think the biggest thing is the offense seems to be coming along, we had some close games we lost early on the road trip. It seemslike we're scoring six, seven runs a night, we've just got to find one way to score one more run than the other team, but we've been playing really good baseball and it's the sight you see," Cronenworth said on the field after the game.
An inning later Freddy Fermin led off reaching on an infield single that the Padres won a challenge to overturn the initial out call, then Fernando Tatis Jr. walked. Cronenworth executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both over, but Machado’s fly ball to left was not deep enough as Mickey Moniak was able to throw out Fermin at the plate on an outfield assist for a double play.
Through the first 5 2/3 innings the combination of Hart and Canning kept the Rockies in check, as Colorado generated just one RISP opportunity and stranded four runners. The Rockies finished 1-for-5 in RISP situations, stranded seven total and grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fourth.
It was Hart’s longest start since May 28, 2025 when he went 4 2/3 against Miami and took a no decision. That was his final appearance as a true starter for the Padres, as when he was recalled just over a month later he settled into a bullpen role.
For Canning in particular it was his best appearance since July 4 at the Dodgers, as he pitched three innings complete and allowed one hit while striking out four with no walks. He also cleaned up his lone hit by pitch, immediately picking off former SDSU Aztec Cole Carrigg for the first out of the sixth — his team leading third pick off.
"I experienced it myself coming out of the bullpen, there's just a little extra adrenaline, there's a little less pressure of it being 'this is your day to pitch' and you spread out over all the games instead of just one specific game. The other part of it is that the other team doesn't know who to game plan for either, and they can try to game plan for everybody at the same time, but usually when there's a starter named they can game plan for that guy a little more specifically and a little bit harder," Stammen said.
"The way we've mixed and matched, until there's a pattern to it, it'll be difficult for the opposing teams."
The Rockies finally broke through in the seventh inning after Willi Castro dropped down a bunt single against reliever Wandy Peralta and then Tyler Freeman singled. Bradgley Rodriguez came on after a Moniak pop out and got a strike out, but allowed an RBI single to Brett Sullivan before getting out of the inning.
Prior to the game the Padres reinstated Estrada from the 15-Day IL and designated Matt Waldron for assignment.
Before going on the IL with right knee inflammation, Estrada had posted a 3.48 ERA in 21 appearances, where he allowed 10 runs (eight earned) with 23 strikeouts and 10 walks over 20 2/3 innings. Waldron is out of MiLB options, and has been with the Padres since making his Majors debut in 2023.
Up next, the Padres conclude their six-game home stand with a four-game set against the San Francisco Giants, who come in having taken two of three from Milwaukee including a decisive 16-3 eruption on Wednesday afternoon. Neither side has named a starter for the opener, with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. on Thursday, July 30 at Petco Park.
This story was updated at 4:26 p.m.